Feds charge man with firebombing UC Berkeley police car

BERKELEY, Calif. - U.S. attorneys charged a 34-year-old East Bay man for allegedly lighting Molotov cocktails under a police car in Berkeley.

A federal grand jury on Friday indicted Casey Robert Goonan for filling up a shopping bag with the explosive devices, kicking it under the fuel tank of a University of California, Berkeley police car, and lighting it on fire on June 1.

The university police car did not explode, officials said. However, the damage was so great to the car's rear seats, fuel port, and trunk that the entire vehicle was written off as a total loss, prosecutors said.

Goonan, who lived in both Pleasant Hill and Oakland, was charged with one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property belonging to an institution receiving federal financial assistance by means of fire or an explosive, one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property used in or affecting interstate commerce by means of fire or an explosive, and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm.

Goonan pleaded not guilty and remains detained pending his trial. KTVU reached out to Goonan's attorney, who did not immediately respond for comment.

When a search warrant against Goonan's property was executed on June 17, authorities found a black trash bag containing clothing that matched what the suspect was wearing according to witnesses, a box of matches, lighter fluid, a gas container containing a liquid that smelled like gas and two lighters, according to a criminal complaint.

Officials did not provide a possible motive.

The incident spurred an investigation by the FBI, ATF, Cal Fire, and the University of California Police Department.

Goonan is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 17 in Oakland.